Category: 2021 Press Releases

On September 1, 2021, Criminal Investigators from the District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigations Child Abduction Unit traveled to Crescent City, California to recover a child that was taken by the mother’s former boyfriend, Billy Aldama, against a court order. The Investigators traveled with the child back to Tulare County and reunited the child with her…
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Today at the South County Justice Center in Porterville, the court sentenced Dale Watson, age 55, to 43 years-to-life in prison for the murder of 18-year-old Dynasty Alexander. In the morning of March 3, 2019, Watson picked up the victim outside a Tulare apartment complex “to go to the store.” Security footage from the apartment…
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On Friday, August 20, 2021, in Department 10 of the Tulare County Superior Court, Visalia Division, a jury found Armando Kassaz, age 64, of Visalia, guilty of child molestation. Kassaz was convicted of 64 counts of lewd act upon a child under the age of 14. Each count is a felony. The jury also found…
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Yesterday in Department 17 of the South County Justice Center in Porterville, the Court sentenced Reyes Garcia, age 47, to life in prison without the possibility of parole for a vicious 2013 double murder in Visalia. In the morning of July 12, 2013, a caretaker arrived at the Visalia home of 58 year-old Jerry Murillo…
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On August 4, 2021, in Department 5 of the Tulare County Superior Court, Visalia Division, a jury found Jose Flores, age 41, guilty of one count of assault with a deadly weapon for a 2017 road rage incident directed at an off duty police officer. On October 9, 2017, while driving an unmarked vehicle eastbound…
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Yesterday in Department 17 of the South County Justice Center in Porterville, a jury found Fresno man Ignacio Lopez, age 37, guilty of multiple crimes related to shooting at a police officer in Tulare. On August 18, 2020, Tulare Police Department officers were on the lookout for a Chevy Impala thought to be involved in…
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On Friday July 30, 2021, in Department 19 of the South County Justice Center in Porterville, a jury convicted Johnny Garcia, age 39, and his wife Kristy Flores, age 41, of gang crimes committed in the city of Tulare in late 2020. On November 19, 2020, Garcia and Flores, both Fresno gang members, were staying…
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On July 21, 2021, at the California Institution for Women in Corona, a California parole board issued a three-year denial for June Gravlee, age 67, for the 1987 murder of her husband. In her 1990 trial prosecuted by former Tulare County District Attorney Phil Cline, Gravlee was convicted of first-degree murder with the special circumstance…
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Today in Department 14 of the Tulare County Superior Court, Visalia Division, the Court sentenced Richard Ramirez, age 47, to 5 years, 8 months in prison for crimes against three victims. On May 7, 2021, a jury convicted Ramirez of the following: Adult Victim 1 –The defendant was convicted of two misdemeanor counts of battery.…
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On Friday July 16, 2021, in Department 17 of the South County Justice Center, the Court sentenced Anthony Ray Rojas, age 24, to 32 years-to-life in prison for attempted murder. In December of 2020, Rojas was at a friend’s house in Richgrove when his friend’s ex-boyfriend, the victim, stopped by while riding his bicycle. The…
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Today at the South County Justice Center in Porterville, the Court sentenced convicted sex offender Ronald Thomas, age 63, to 50 years-to-life in prison for harassing teens at a local park. On May 21, 2021, a jury convicted Thomas of one count of annoying or molesting a child with a prior sex crime conviction, and…
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Yesterday via video conference, a California Parole Board recommended parole for Harry Bodine, age 75, of Visalia. Bodine has been incarcerated since 1992 for the attempted murder of now retired Tulare County Superior Court Judge Howard Broadman. Bodine is currently housed at High Desert State Prison. On May 4, 1991, Bodine entered Judge Broadman’s Visalia…
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Via video conference on July 7, 2021, TCDA prosecutors successfully argued against parole for Omar Galeana, 35. In the late evening of July 16, 2006, Tulare County Sheriff deputies were dispatched to a Visalia area residence on Road 124 concerning an adult male suffering from a gunshot wound. The victim had been shot in the…
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In the weeks leading up to this 4th of July weekend, investigators from the TCDA Bureau of Investigations and Tulare County Fire Department removed 540 pounds of illegal fireworks off the streets. During a series of joint operations targeting sales, investigators worked to intercept dangerous “Illegal” fireworks that have been brought into the county in…
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District Attorney Tim Ward has announced criminal charges related to the theft of 42,000 pounds of pistachios in the south county. Alberto Montemayor, 35, is charged with grand theft of vegetables and fruits and receiving stolen property. The crimes allegedly were committed between May 19, 2021, and June 16, 2021. Each count is a felony.…
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Today in Department 6 of the Tulare County Superior Court, the Court sentenced Yovani Martinez, age 33, to 50 years-to-life in prison for child molestation and possession of child pornography. On May 5, 2021, a jury found Martinez guilty of two counts of digital penetration of a child under the age of ten, six counts…
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District Attorney Tim Ward has announced murder charges stemming from a June 19, 2021, DUI crash in Porterville that took the lives of two children, ages 8 and 10, and left two other children, ages 5 and 13, with severe injuries. One child currently remains in critical condition. An additional two adult victims were also…
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On Monday, June 7, 2021, at the South County Justice Center, a jury convicted Anthony Ray Rojas, age 24, of attempted murder and being a felon in possession of firearm. The jury also found true the allegations that the attempted murder was committed with premeditation and deliberation, and that during the attempted murder, Rojas was…
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District Attorney Tim Ward has announced the filing of criminal charges against Jorge Vasquez, 46, for crimes against multiple children. Vasquez is charged with eight counts of child molestation and one count of failure to register as a sex offender. The crimes are alleged to have occurred between June 5, 2018, and June 5, 2021,…
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District Attorney Tim Ward has announced criminal charges related to a June 3, 2021, incident in Visalia that left a 3-year-old child dead in a vehicle during a triple-digit heatwave. Eustajia Dominguez Mojica, 28, is charged with child abuse and the special allegation of willful harm or injury resulting in death, involuntary manslaughter, conspiracy to…
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On May 27, 2021, in Department 14 of the Tulare County Superior Court, a jury found Jimmy Reed, age 46, guilty of attempted murder, assault, domestic violence, and attempted criminal threats. Numerous charges are enhanced with special allegations that Reed caused great bodily injury. After midnight on May 21, 2020, at a gas station on…
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On May 13, 2021, in Department 3 of the Tulare County Superior Court, the court sentenced Ana Gomez, age 27, to two years in state prison for violating her terms of probation stemming from a 2019 vehicular manslaughter conviction. On October 19, 2020, Gomez was arrested for DUI by the Visalia Police Department with a…
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Late Friday afternoon at the South County Justice Center in Porterville, a jury convicted Ronald Thomas, age 63, of one count of annoying or molesting a child with a prior sex crime conviction, and failure to file a change of address as a sex offender. In early 2019, Thomas, an area transient, would frequently park…
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